CuPIDO Site Survey Notes, 10-12 Jan 2006 Gregory S. Poulos -12 Jan 2006 Updated 18 Jan 2006

Participants: Poulos, Prof. Joe Zehnder, PI and Nancy Selover, Arizona Assistant State Climatologist on 11 Jan only

Goals: Site and stake 5 remaining (of 10 total) tower sites for CuPIDO identified as NW (Fluxes, Rancho Solano), SW (PAM, Pima Canyon Estates), S (PAM, Prison Camp/Bug Springs), E (PAM, Lone Hill) and ENE (Fluxes, Davis Mesa).

Summary: All 5 sites were successfully staked, with GPS coordinates logged, directions to sites, landmarks, photography (E, N, W, S, and other). Some minor logistical information was also obtained (hotels in the vicinity of the University of Arizona Agricultural Research Station). ** Update Jan 18 – the Pima Canyon Estates site may be rejected by the owners. Important points:  Safety of equipment is a concern at the sites, particularly NW (Rancho Solano), with solar panels being particularly attractive to thieves. Consider hydrogen fuel cells.  At the S site we should seek permission to access the gate that goes up toward Bug Springs to improve our access for set-up and tear-down.  Cacti are ubiquitous and require protection from with good boots, preferably tall, and pants generally.  E and ENE sites require a 2.75-3.00 hour drive from downtown Tucson to reach and are 1.5 hours apart due to rough roads which require good 4WD.  E and ENE are subject to temporary inaccessibility due to flash flooding and potentially difficult access/egress during monsoon rains (CuPIDO is during monsoon season). Nancy Selover is checking on the seriousness of this constraint in this area.  Are soil moisture sensors desirable at all 10 CuPIDO sites?  We need to provide names to Rick Sythe and the 24/7 guard at Pima Canyon Estates for those who will need access.

Logistics for the Agricultural Research Station (site of ISFF trailer) Lodging: There are two places within walking distance the Rancho Montana Apartments (near Campbell and Roger Road and closest to the station) which may be amenable to short-term rental and the Windmill Suites (1 block north of the main entrance to the research station). Food/Shops: The lodging is just 1 block south of Trader Joe’s, a nice grocery store and another block south of St. Philips Plaza which contains many shops

1 and restaurants (of good quality according to Joe Zehnder). St. Philips is on the corner of Campbell and River Road. ** Update Jan 18 – See Tom Horst’s notes on lodging for other, perhaps preferred ideas. SW (Southwest or Pima Canyon Estates development) Site Instrumentation: Standard meteorology Staked location: 32o 21.251, 110o 56.681, 3028 ft – at ~1400 10 Jan 2006 Title on GPS: CUSW7-PIMA Pima Canyon Estates representative: Rick Sythe

We met with friendly sales representative Rick Sythe and gave him the draft lease form prepared by FPS and given to Greg by Brigitte. He provided us with difficult to read but useful development maps showing the roads. Rick will hand this draft off for review (to Priscilla Storm) and for comments to be directed to FPS. Brigitte’s card was attached to the lease draft. Directions: From Tucson drive North to Ina Road and take a right (east). At about 2 miles note a sign on your left for Pima Canyon and shortly Pima Canyon Road on your left. Take a left into this gated community. Access will require checking in with the guard (who will need a list of names to verify against). The guard will then open the gate to access the site (this is an interior gate on the way to the site at which you will need to press the call button to call the guard). Take Pima Canyon Drive from the guardhouse north to Gardner Drive and take a right. You will come to the interior gate (call guard and continue). Follow around to the west to Barrel Cactus Drive and take a right (north). Follow this road to the end cul-de-sac. Lot 293 is marked to the E with a sign. There is a stone/gravel trail that leads 100 feet uphill to the NE (about 20 feet past the green electrical junction box) at a gentle slope to the stake. The stake is on a previously somewhat disturbed nearly level area (stone/gravel). Pictures CUSW1 – Looking south CUSW2 – East CUSW3 – North CUSW4 – West CUSW5 – Looking down the gravel path toward the car CUSW6 – Looking up the gravel path to the stake

S (South or Bug Springs Site [formerly Prison Camp]) Instrumentation: Standard meteorology Staked location: 32o 20.440’, 110o 42.897’, 5011 feet – at 1612 10 Jan 2006 Title on GPS: CUS-BUG Coronado Forest representative: Josh Taiz (did not meet Josh)

2 Josh had recommended that the newly renamed Prison Camp area (Hirobayashi Memorial) be avoided due to high traffic and the USFS Wilderness boundary in the immediate vicinity. As a result we found a site approximately 100 vertical feet above the road just to the north (across the Mt. Lemmon or Catalina highway) of the entrance of the Memorial. Directions: Take Grant Road or River Road to Tanque Verde Road east. Take the Catalina Highway up Mt. Lemmon. After MM7 you will approach the Hirobayashi Memorial (former Prison Camp) on your left – a good landmark. Park in the small, gated pullout across from the entrance on the right hand side of the Catalina Highway – this road leads to a disturbed area with piles of gravel. We may be able to gain access to this road (chained, locked by Coronado Nat Forest) to simplify installation. If you come to the Bug Springs trailhead or the 5000 feet elevation sign on Catalina Highway, you have passed the turnoff. From the gate, which is at 4890 feet, walk ~ 100 feet (see picture) and look east uphill (you will not be able to see the stake). You will see a shallow draw and a small ridgeline to the SE. Go up the draw a bit and turn and hike to the ridgeline. Hike the ridgeline up to 5000 feet and you will find the stake. The ridgeline is perhaps 10 degrees steep and you rise 100 vertical feet. The stake is on a locally flat area along the ridge above a small rock outcropping. The access is not difficult but is more difficult than for the other sites – there is no defined trail but the brush/cacti are not dense. Pictures CUS1 – East CUS2 – North CUS3 – West CUS4 – South CUS5 – Toward Prison Camp/Hirobayashi Memorial to the southwest CUS6 – Looking at the car downhill and to the west on the access road CUS7 – Looking at the Catalina highway to the Northwest CUS8 – View of gravel area where we began hiking and the ridgeline that reaches the site

ENE (East Northeast or Davis Mesa) Instrumentation: Fluxes (with soil moisture?) Staked location: 32o 27.855, 110o 37.400’, 4120 ft – at 1200 11 Jan 2006 Title on GPS: CUENE-DVSM Redington Road turnoff waypoint: CUENEREDTN, Jeep trail 2nd fork waypoint: CUENEDMFK2 Davis Mesa representative: Goff (did not meet), a friendly cowboy type, runs the leased property (essentially private land)

This site takes 2.75 – 3.00 hours to reach one way due roundabout access (from the North) and due to the lengthy dirt roads and ~10 mile jeep trail to access (10 mph). It is a short distance as the crow flies from the E site, but it takes 1.5 hours

3 to go back out to Redington Road, down Redington to the jeep road to the E site, and to the E site. During heavy rains on Mt. Lemmon, flash floods will temporarily prevent access or egress (for minutes or hours depending on conditions – Nancy Selover is looking into this further ** Update Jan 18 – Nancy sent an email indicating that the washes will peak a few hours after rain becomes significant over the slopes relevant to this area’s washes. As a result, departing the site rather promptly upon significant rainfall is advised in order to avoid being temporarily trapped.). The jeep trail requires good tires and a good clearance four-wheel drive vehicle. It is 50 minutes and 9.25 miles from Redington Road to the parking site closest to ENE. Directions: This route travels north on the east side of Mt. Lemmon, across Mt. Lemmon’s northern flank, and then south along Redington Road on the east side of Mt. Lemmon – this is a preferred path due to the greater amount of paved roads. An alternate route would be to come from the south on Redington Road which may be faster but rougher (we did not try this, however the previous site survey did [see those notes]). It is ~ 69 miles to the ENE site from the junction of Speedway Road and I-10 in Tucson. Drive north on Oracle (paved) which turns into Route 77 to the turn toward Redington (roughly 40 mi). Take a right and follow the highway (Veteran’s Memorial, I believe) past the smokestacks (at 5 miles from the turnoff at Rt 77) to River Road (at 9 mi). Follow River Road to Redington Road (~2.8 mi) – River Road turns quickly into dirt. Go right on Redington Road and proceed ~ 10.7 miles to the turn to the jeep trail to the ENE site – waypoint (CUENEREDTN 32 o 26.879’, 110o 29.529’, 2834 ft). After noting your mileage, turn right (west). It will be 50 to 60 minutes from here to the site. At ~4.6 miles (the halfway point from the turnoff to the ENE parking spot) you will cross a Private Property sign and a cattle guard, and you will have a gate to open and then close. At 4.8 miles (4.4 from the site on return) go right at the fork 4WD uphill at the small old white sign that points up the hill and says ‘Davis Mesa’. Stay right at the fork at 4.9 miles (top of the short hill). Here the road turns east for a bit before turning back west. At 6.0-6.1 miles there is a short rugged 4WD hill. At 6.5 miles (2.7 mi on the return) there is an important FORK – stay left at the fork (waypoint CUENEDMFK2, 32o 28.426’, 110o 34.753’, 3536 feet). The road will rise and flatten at about 8.9 miles and at 9.1-9.2 miles you will be paralleling a barbed wire fence on your left and will see a gate composed of two thick wooden vertical posts and a cross-post (this is a landmark – don’t go through it). Go another 100 yards (following the fenceline west) to 9.3 miles and park (we made a small stack of rocks with a white rock on top where we parked). The site stake is to the right (north) of the parking spot 60 paces or about 150 feet over flat land. The landscape is comprised of regular, well-spaced prickly pear cactus and mesquite and the ground is good for anchoring. Pictures CUENE1 – West CUENE2 – North

4 CUENE3 – East CUENE4 – South CUENE5 – Southeast to cars parked on jeep trail over flat land CUENE6 – SW to Mt. Lemmon (antennas) CUENE7 – The landmark gate at 9.1-9.2 miles in (thick wooden)

E (East or Lone Hill) Site Instrumentation: Standard meteorology Staked location: 32o 24.716’, 110o 35.517’, 3812 ft – staked 1501 11 Jan 2006 Title on GPS: CUE-LONEHL

This site has similar access roads and time-to-site as ENE and is located on the east side of Mt. Lemmon. And the approach described here is from the North. Southerly approaches can still utilize the waypoints on Redington Road to find the turn. Directions: Follow the same directions as for ENE above, first and second paragraph. The turn west on to the jeep road toward the E site off Redington Road is 0.85 miles further along Redington Road than the turn toward ENE. This turn is marked as waypoint CUEREDRDTN (32o 26.223’, 110o 29.844, 2837 ft); turn right (west). You will follow this road for about 40 minutes and 7.8 miles to the west. It is a somewhat easier road than that to ENE. At 1.3 miles there is a gate (open and close). At 3.1 mi take the right fork (more or less straight). At 4.8 miles open and close the gate. At 5.5 mi stay right at the fork. At 5.7 mi open and close the gate. Park at 7.8 mi at the turnaround (with firepit) marked as waypoint CUECAR (250 feet WNW of the stake). From the parking spot walk 250 feet ESE to the site on the spit of flat land. The site is marked as CUE-LONEHL. Pictures CUE0 – Joe Zehnder pounding the stake CUE1 – West CUE2 – North CUE3 – East CUE4 – South CUE5 – toward car (looking WNW)

NNW (Northwest or Rancho Solano) Instrumentation: Fluxes Staked location: 32o 33.661, 110o 51.172, 3490 ft – staked 1240 12 Jan 2006 Title on GPS: CUNNWRCHSL Representative: Bill Row

This site is on the Northwest side of Mt. Lemmon in a development area called Rancho Solano (as yet undisturbed at the site itself). We met with Bill Row, who runs the property, and he was very accommodating. The site is locally flat, on a

5 larger mesa-like area, with a ridge to the west and a valley to the east (before rising up to sub-ridges of Mt. Lemmon). Bill told stories of solar panels being an object of desire for thieves and thus perhaps we should consider hydrogen fuel cells for at least this location and an electric fence will be needed to keep cattle away. Directions: Go north on Oracle out of downtown Tuscon and 13.5 miles north of Ina Road take a right on Saddlebrooke Road. Follow this 2.1 miles to a left turn onto Catalina Hill Drive (you will be driving downhill when you take the left). Follow Catalina for 2.4 miles to Peregrine Place on your left and go left. After 0.5 miles the road will become dirt and at 0.9 miles further (1.4 miles from the turn onto Peregrine you’ll come to a cattle guard. Park 200 ft further up on the right hand side – the site is up a small hill to the left or west (waypoint at the parking spot: CUNNW-CAR 32o 33.624’, 110o 51.095’, 3440 feet). Walk up the small low- angle hill (50 vertical feet) towards the northwest (a total distance of 450 feet from the parking spot) to reach the staked site (CUNNWRCHSL). It is flat with catci and spare somewhat taller vegetation and a soil/rock mix. Pictures CUNNW1 – South CUNNW2 – West CUNNW3 – North CUNNW4 – East

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